6139008-History-of-Money

ECCLES: That is what our money system is. If there were no debts in our money system, there wouldn't be anymoney.It must be realized that, while money may represent an asset to selected individuals, when it is considered as anaggregate of the total money supply, it is not an asset at all. A man who borrows $1,000 may think that he has increasedhis financial position by that amount but he has not. His $1,000 cash asset is offset by his $1,000 loan liability, and hisnet position is zero. Bank accounts are exactly the same on a larger scale. Add up all the bank accounts in the nation, andit would be easy to assume that all that money represents a gigantic pool of assets which support the economy. Yet,every bit of this money is owed by someone. Some will owe nothing. Others will owe many times what they possess. Alladded together, the national balance is zero. What we think is money is but a grand illusion. The reality is debt.Robert Hemphill was the Credit Manager of the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta. In the foreword to a book byIrving Fisher, entitled 100% Money, Hemphill said this:If all the bank loans were paid, no one could have a bank deposit, and there would not be a dollar of coin or currency incirculation. This is a staggering thought. We are completely dependent on the commercial banks. Someone has to borrowevery dollar we have in circulation, cash, or credit. If the banks create ample synthetic money we are prosperous; if not,we starve. We are absolutely without a permanent money system. When one gets a complete grasp of the picture, thetragic absurdity of our hopeless situation is almost incredible -- but there it is. With the knowledge that money in Americais based on debt, it should not come as a surprise to learn that the Federal Reserve System is not the least interested inseeing a reduction in debt in this country, regardless of public utterances to the contrary. Here is the bottom line from theSystem's own publications. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia says: "A large and growing number of analysts,on the other hand, now regard the national debt as something useful, if not an actual blessing....[They believe] thenational debt need not be reduced at all." The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago adds: "Debt -- public and private -- ishere to stay. It plays an essential role in economic processes.... What is required is not the abolition of debt, but itsprudent use and intelligent management."What’s wrong with a little debt?There is a kind of fascinating appeal to this theory. It gives those who expound it an aura of intellectualism, theappearance of being able to grasp a complex economic principle that is beyond the comprehension of mere mortals. And,for the less academically minded, it offers the comfort of at least sounding moderate. After all, what's wrong with a littledebt, prudently used and intelligently managed? The answer is nothing, provided the debt is based on an honesttransaction. There is plenty wrong with it if it is based upon fraud. An honest transaction is one in which a borrower paysan agreed upon sum in return for the temporary use of a lender's asset. That asset could be anything of tangible value. Ifit were an automobile, for example, then the borrower would pay "rent." If it is money, then the rent is called "interest."Either way, the concept is the same.When we go to a lender -- either a bank or a private party -- and receive a loan of money, we are willing to pay intereston the loan in recognition of the fact that the money we are borrowing is an asset which we want to use. It seems onlyfair to pay a rental fee for that asset to the person who owns it. It is not easy to acquire an automobile, and it is not easyto acquire money -- real money, that is. If the money we are borrowing was earned by someone's labor and talent, theyare fully entitled to receive interest on it. But what are we to think of money that is created by the mere stroke of a penor the click of a computer key? Why should anyone collect a rental fee on that? When banks place credits into yourchecking account, they are merely pretending to lend you money. In reality, they have nothing to lend. Even the moneythat non-indebted depositors have placed with them was originally created out of nothing in response to someone else'sloan. So what entitles the banks to collect rent on nothing? It is immaterial that men everywhere are forced by law toaccept these nothing certificates in exchange for real goods and services. We are talking here, not about what is legal, butwhat is moral. As Thomas Jefferson observed at the time of his protracted battle against central banking in the UnitedStates, "No one has a natural right to the trade of money lender, but he who has money to lend."Third reason to abolish the systemCenturies ago, usury was defined as any interest charged for a loan. Modern usage has redefined it as excessive interest.Certainly, any amount of interest charged for a pretended loan is excessive. The dictionary, therefore, needs a newdefinition. Usury: The charging of any interest on a loan of fiat money. Let us, therefore, look at debt and interest in thislight. Thomas Edison summed up the immorality of the system when he said: People who will not turn a shovel of dirt onthe project nor contribute a pound of materials will collect more money...than will the people who will supply all thematerials and do all the work.Is that an exaggeration? Let us consider the purchase of a $100,000 home in which $30,000 represents the cost of theland, architect's fee, sales commissions, building permits, and that sort of thing and $70,000 is the cost of labor andbuilding materials. If the home buyer puts up $30,000 as a down payment, then $70,000 must be borrowed. If the loan isissued at 11% over a 30-year period, the amount of interest paid will be $167,806. That means the amount paid to thosewho loan the money is about 2 1/2 times greater than paid to those who provide all the labor and all the materials. It istrue that this figure represents the time-value of that money over thirty years and easily could be justified on the basisThe Hidden History Of Money & New World Order Usury Secrets Revealed at last! Page 433